A fisherman on the Mekong River in Phnom Penh. Photo: EPA/Mak Remissa

Evie Breese and Sonita Veng
30 August 2019

“I have no choice, I decided to use machines to find fish even though I know it is illegal,”

But this year, the water is running late – around one to two months late, depending on your year of comparison. In a statement to Southeast Asia Globe, the Mekong River Commission claimed that this year the reversal started in early July. It normally reverses at the end of May, reaching maximum flow by late August.

Illegal fishing methods such as stunning fish with electrical rods and nets with holes tight enough to snare even the smallest minnows are the only way to guarantee a catch these days – there are precious few left in the shrivelled lake, Sokhorng said. With a wife and four children to feed – and school fees to pay – a fine of $10-25 is worth the risk.

Few studies have been able to tackle the fishermen’s claims that fish, nearly all fish, are declining in numbers in both the Mekong and Tonle Sap. An FAO (Food and Agricultural Organisation of the UN) study from 2011 reported major declines of the larger later-in-life spawning species, claiming that catches in the Mekong are now dominated by smaller rapidly reproducing species.

The development of the Chinese-backed Sambor dam on the Cambodian Mekong, is alone predicted to reduce yields of fish and other aquatic animals by 16-31% – or 98,000-182,000 tonnes. A report commissioned by the government in Phnom Penh claimed that Cambodia’s biggest dam could “literally kill” the Mekong river. The report was kept secret since it was submitted in 2017, only to be leaked in May last year.

Eng Chea San, director of the Fisheries Administration, did not in fact seem interested in talking. On hearing that the caller was a journalist, he hung up the phone.

Full https://southeastasiaglobe.com/mekong-d ... reat-lake/